Chapter 19: Spearmanship – 3

How many people in their lives have never swung a spear?

Most people with an average body can swing a spear.

Unless they have a problem with their arms or body from birth, this is generally true.

So the answer to this question is simple.

‘No way.’

I’m not a primitive man from the prehistoric era who lived by hunting, nor a soldier from a medieval battlefield.

There’s no reason for a civilized person in modern society to handle a spear.

Swords or bows are a different story.

You can easily encounter swords at kendo dojos or training halls.

Some people even take them up as hobbies or professions.

For bows, archery is common, and occasionally there are traditional archery clubs or societies.

Whoosh!

“…It’s ambiguous.”

But spears are rare.

Even in medieval times, soldiers only handled spears during formal training or when war broke out.

You have to go back to the distant prehistoric era when wooden spears were used to hunt mammoths for spears to be a common human experience.

“Should I be happy that this task is simple, or disappointed that there’s no progress?”

I thought to myself as I swung the spear in my hand early in the morning.

The task Professor Karia gave me the previous day turned out to be simpler than I expected.

Repeating thrusting and swinging a thousand times each with the correct grip and posture.

That was the task she assigned.

Without complicating things, I just performed the task as if it was personal training.

‘I’ve definitely improved, but I can’t feel the significant effect.’

Despite repeating four-digit numbers of thrusts and swings, I couldn’t reach the level of mastery that Professor Karia demonstrated.

Not just spearmanship that pierced the air, but spearmanship that penetrated the void.

What am I missing?

What’s the difference between my movements and hers that creates such a gap?

I kept pondering, but I couldn’t even grasp a fragment of the martial art she showed.

Given the vast gap between her and my skill in spearmanship, it’s naturally difficult to reach that level easily.

I understood this logically, but my anxious mind couldn’t easily accept this rational understanding.

“…It’s about time.”

I checked the time on my smartphone and murmured with a sigh.

It was almost time for Professor Karia’s lecture.

I decided to sit and rest until she arrived.

‘My proficiency, which rose steadily at first, has started to stagnate.’

During my break, I opened my status window to check my spear proficiency and skill rank.

[(Spearmanship Technique) -D] You are proficient in the basic use of the spear. The skill rank increases with proficiency.

Current proficiency: 31.4/100

I thought I worked quite hard, but the evaluation in the status window was cold.

I swung the spear diligently, barely reaching proficiency level 30 and raising it to D rank, but now even that growth had slowed significantly.

“Ah, you’re already here?”

Professor Karia, who had arrived at some point, spoke to me as she approached.

I closed the status window and moved my legs to stand up.

“I came early to practice spearmanship personally.”

Professor Karia, who entered the second training hall, smiled when she saw me training early.

“You’re diligent. How is the progress on the part I taught you yesterday?”

“I think I’ve got the basics down, but it’s hard to say I’m satisfied.”

I answered honestly to Professor Karia’s kind inquiry.

Hearing my answer, she fell into deep thought.

She stared at me for a moment, as if contemplating something, then asked a question.

“Satisfaction… Student Seong Yujin, is your goal to reach my level?”

“For now, yes. You’re the best spear handler I’ve seen.”

To aim for 100 points, you have to study desperately to barely score 80 or 90 points.

The results are always somewhat behind the ideal target.

So, in my previous life, I always set high goals.

It’s the same now.

“I see. But for now, lower your goal a bit.”

“What?”

However, Professor Caria had a different perspective.

“You said your goal is me, right? Do you have a plan to reach me?”

Her question left me silent.

A plan.

What steps should I take to reach her level?

I couldn’t conceive of the intermediate steps.

I just swung the spear madly, checking my progress through the status window, heading towards a 100% number.

That was it.

There was nothing in that process that could be called a ‘plan.’

“A goal without a plan is just a dream.”

Professor Karia gave me a stern admonishment.

“A meticulous and rational plan leads to success, but actions based on sudden thoughts or impulses are bound to fail.”

Professor Karia pulled a wooden spear from her subspace pocket, just as she did the previous day.

With a spear in hand, she extended it forward.

Bang!

With a popping sound, the air trembled.

The void pierced by the spear resonated with the blade, creating a chilly sound.

The spearmanship Professor Karia demonstrated the previous day, and something beyond that.

“Spearmanship is the same. To use the technique just now, many steps are required.”

My mind was completely absorbed in her lecture.

“Setting a big goal is good. But don’t set a goal too high.”

Professor Karia relaxed her posture and adjusted her grip on the spear.

It was the grip method she taught me yesterday.

“For now, start small. Aim to master basic techniques one by one.”

She pulled the spear inward to her body in the correct grip and took a ready stance.

“What matters is not achieving the goal, but what you learn and how much you grow in the process.”

Professor Caria performed a basic thrust in the orthodox manner.

There was no superfluous movement in any of her actions.

It wasn’t as flashy as the previous technique, nor was it so fast that it couldn’t be seen.

It was the essence of spearmanship, the fundamental move on which all spearmanship is based.

From that movement, an intuition arose that I couldn’t block that thrust.

The pinnacle of basics, Professor Karia showed me just that.

“…But, I understand that feeling too.”

“Pardon?”

A warm smile spread across Professor Karia’s face like morning sunlight.

“Let’s change the way we do the lessons. It’s earlier than I expected, but the reason we chose the second training hall was for this, after all.”

Saying this, Professor Karia walked off somewhere.

At first, I just followed her with my eyes.

I thought she was going to demonstrate a new technique.

But as I stood there dumbly, the distance between us grew.

Only then did I realize that Professor Karia had a destination in mind.

Belatedly, I moved my legs to hurriedly follow her.

‘!?!?’

The place I arrived at, following Professor Karia, was the training arena.

The core of the Second Training Facility.

A place where near-real combat is possible through technology that merges virtual reality and illusion magic.

Even if you suffer a fatal injury or die during training, it is merely regarded as an illusion and does not affect your actual body.

How will it be possible for me to not know…

It’s simply said that Otinuus personally created the system through some means.

‘Why here all of a sudden?’

Naturally, that question arose in my mind.

I slowly approached Professor Karia, who had arrived ahead of me and was operating a large machine in the training arena, as I watched her.

Why did Professor Karia suddenly bring me to the training room?

Unfortunately, my Insight could only read physical movements.

It wasn’t a Mind Reading that could discern someone’s thoughts, so I had no choice but to silently wait for her to open her mouth and explain the reason.

“Do you remember yesterday’s orientation?”

Professor Karia, who had been focused on the machine, turned around and asked me.

“…Are you talking about when you told me to attack for ten seconds?”

“Yes.”

Of course, I remember.

The moment when I had tried with all my might to grab Professor Karia’s clothes hem is still etched in my mind.

Upon hearing my answer, Professor Karia’s energy became even more intense.

A sense of foreboding crossed my mind.

“Professor, I just wanted to check something.”

“Yes, go ahead.”

“…This isn’t, right?”

That one sentence carried so much meaning.

My lips trembled.

I broke into a cold sweat and took small steps backward.

Unfortunately, Professor Karia smiled brightly at me.

It was so bright that I felt like crying.

“Systematic education is important, but hunters grow significantly through life-and-death combat.”

Indeed, I know well.

The stories of hunters explosively growing in potential during critical life-and-death moments.

It’s often mentioned in many hunters’ tales and hero stories.

It’s practically a cliché now.

Before I knew it, the ceiling and walls of the training arena had turned pure white.

It felt like only Professor Karia and I were left in this white space.

‘This is the place that appeared in the Ranking PVP content.’

It was the space that served as the background for the content where players competed with each other using their characters.

The training system was activated.

Now, in this space, even if I died, I would be revived.

“Let me show you why the Second Training Facility was built using such advanced technology.”

I was sweating cold.

My body tensed up, and I fixed my gaze on Professor Karia.

The sound effect “gogogogo,” which often appeared in comics, seemed to actually resonate in my ears.

I swallowed hard.

Tensing all my muscles, I gripped my spear and faced her.

Tightly.

My nervous body tightened its grip on the spear’s shaft.

I opened my eyes wide and focused all my nerves on Professor Karia.

‘…Can I do it?’

A duel close to real combat.

Even if I was pierced by a spear and my body was shattered, it was just an illusion.

Even if I died dozens or hundreds of times, it was merely a virtual duel, and I didn’t have to worry about my physical state.

Based on the advantages of the Second Training Facility, Professor Karia intended to hammer practical experience and spear techniques into me.

‘No.’

I can’t.

Therefore, I must.

If my head flies off in one bout, I will take the next bout with my next life.

Even if I die several times, I will aim for two bouts, three bouts with the next life.

“It seems you’ve made up your mind.”

“Yes!”

Professor Karia exhaled softly and smiled as she saw my expression.

Now, concentrate.

Use all your eyesight to watch her every move.

Swoosh—

‘Here it comes…!’

My Insight caught Professor Karia’s form shifting.

The detection barrier recognized the trajectory of her moving body and immediately fed the information into my mind.

‘…??’

The next moment, I saw Professor Karia passing by my body.

My vision spun as I flew through the air.

The first life couldn’t even withstand a single bout from her.